Avanti's Very Own Dr. Unnati Patel Sits Down for a Lipid Leader Interview!

1. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Dr. Unnati Patel and I am a QC Specialist at Avanti Research. I did my undergrad and MS in Pharmacy in Gujarat, India. After coming to the USA, I earned my second master’s in chemistry and then pursued my Ph.D. in Biotechnology Science & Engineering from The University of Alabama in Huntsville. I was pregnant with my first son during first year of my Ph.D. Truly, it was very tough time as I had to finish all of my candidacy exams, I was Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University, so I also needed to finish my TA tasks. But my loving husband, Vaibhav Patel, gave me a lot of support in all aspects. When I was in my last year of my Ph.D., pregnant again with our daughter, I was writing my thesis and simultaneously actively looking for job in industry.

I knew Avanti Research as I have used Avanti’s highly purified lipids in all of my research projects. So, I applied to Avanti through LinkedIn. I was also had contacts with an employee working in Avanti through LinkedIn. I would like to mention here that Kyle Black, Sale and Marketing Manager at Avanti, forwarded my resume to HR. Thanks to Kyle for helping me.

Then, one day I got call from HR and they scheduled my technical interview on Teams, I confidently gave the interview and during the interview only I had sense that they will select me. Finally, after few days, I got call from HR that I have selected and I was so happy, my entire family is so happy. Its like dream come true as I got selected before my final defence. So happy to be a part of Avanti!

2. Did you always want to be a scientist? Who most influenced you to go down this path?

Yes. When I was little kid, I was very good at study and always want to help people and the community through my knowledge and passion. Hence, I have selected my study path accordingly. I would like to give the credit to my parents and after marriage my spouse, Vaibhav Patel, who encouraged me a lot to fulfil my career goals and dreams.

3. If you had to give one piece of advice to someone in the research field, what would you tell them?

I would say follow your passion. If you really have interest and passion about what you are doing, then no one has to push you up. You will continue to work so hard until you reach your goal no matter if it’s day or night. You will not be tired at all, instead you will get satisfaction from your work!

4. The concept of dual-targeted delivery is intriguing. Could you explain in more detail how you achieved this dual targeting in your study, and what advantages it offers in terms of treating lung carcinomas compared to single-target approaches?

Dual targeted drug delivery system using hybrid nanomaterials is certainly a promising treatment approach in treating lung carcinomas. I have prepared thermo-sensitive liposomes in which lipids were ordered from Avanti, (DPPC, Cholesterol and DSPE-PEG(2000) amine).

On the surface of liposome I have conjugated two targeted ligands on liposome by EDAC chemistry. DSPE PEG (2000) Amine lipids has amine groups which will react with carboxylic acid group present on two targeting ligands and form a stable amide bond. GE 11 is a targeting ligand which has specificity toward the Epidermal Growth receptor present on lung cancer cells and another ligand is Folic acid, which has targeting specificity toward folate receptors present on lung cancer cells.

Due to having two targeting ligands present on nano-assembly, it will specifically target the cancerous cells without affecting the healthy cell line and deliver the drug at targeted sites.

In this study, I have also attached single targeting ligand and checked the targeting efficiency of nano-assembly. I found that dual targeting approach has killed almost 99% of cancerous cell as compared to the single target. For more details you can read my recently published article in ACS Applied Biomaterial Science here: Dual Targeted Delivery of Liposomal Hybrid Gold Nano-Assembly for Enhanced Photothermal Therapy against Lung Carcinomas

5. Could you provide a brief overview of the motivation behind conducting this research and the specific challenges or gaps in current lung carcinoma therapy that you aimed to address with the dual-targeted liposomal hybrid gold nano-assembly?

I want to develop a hybrid nano system that can be used for treatment of many diseases such as bacterial infections, cancer etc. Hence, I have engineered nano-assembly in which researchers can load the drug, simultaneously conjugate variety of targeting ligands according to the application of disease.

For instant, we have utilized similar nano-assembly to treat bacterial infections such as Tuberculosis. Later on, we have used similar nano-assembly to treat lung carcinoma in which we have load anti-cancer drug Doxorubicin and conjugated two different targeting ligands on liposome.

In current therapy, USFDA approved Doxil which is basically Doxorubicin loaded inside liposome formulation to treat cancer. A recent example is Covid-19 Vaccine. In this vaccine, mRNA loaded inside lipid nanoparticles, these vaccines have saved lives of people around the globe. I am happy that Nanomaterials have gained attention because of this huge success.

However, in terms of targeted drug delivery, these nano-system still has some challenges to clearing their route to get through in all clinical trials. Hence, in my research I have tried to address this by designing hybrid nano-assembly that will have several benefits as compared to nano-targeted therapy such as:

1. Specifically target the cancer cells without affecting the healthy cells
2. Reduce off site toxicity
3. Deliver the lowest dosage of drug at targeted site (Reduce dosage of drug)
4. Reduce side effect of drug

6. In your research, you mentioned the use of photothermal therapy. Could you describe the key findings related to the effectiveness of the liposomal hybrid gold nano-assemblies in terms of their photothermal properties, and how these findings could potentially impact the clinical treatment of lung carcinomas?

Yes. I have utilized photothermal therapy to treat lung cancer. So basically, in designing of nano-system, I have used gold nanorod as a core which has photothermal capacity. Gold nanorod coated with mesoporous silica nanoparticles, since it has porous structure of silica, once can load hydrophilic or hydrophobic drugs. Then, I have prepared thermo-sensitive liposomes in which lipids were ordered from Avanti, (DPPC, Cholesterol and DSPE-PEG(2000) amine). Next to increase the photothermal capacity of nano-system, I have loaded IR 780 dye (Photothermal dye) into liposome. Then on the surface of liposome I have conjugated 2 targeted ligands on liposome by EDAC chemistry. DSPE PEG (2000) Amine lipids has amine groups which will react with carboxylic acid group present on two targeting ligand and form stable amide bond. GE 11 is targeting ligand which has specificity toward the Epidermal Growth receptor present on lung cancer cells and another ligand is Folic acid which has targeting specificity toward folate receptors present on lung cancer cells. For better understanding I have attached the schematic of nano-assembly.

Scheme 1. Design of nano-assembly.

This engineered nano-assemblies [(GM@Dox) LI]-PF were effectively bound to cancer cells through the targeting ligands GE-11 and folic acid. Then, upon near infrared laser (NIR) laser irradiation, the heat generated by gold nanorods and the IR 780 dye melted the thermos sensitive liposome, and hence, Dox was released in an NIR laser-controlled manner. The chemo-photothermal effect of the nano-assemblies activates apoptotic cell death events. The developed nano-assemblies were tested in vitro and showed a 11-fold increase in effectiveness as compared to free Dox. [(GM@Dox) LI]-PF represents a simple, safe, and effective nanocarrier, which can be used for a combination of targeted drug delivery and PTT treatment.

7. In the context of potential clinical translation, what are the main implications of the study's findings, and what future research or steps are suggested to advance this technology for lung carcinoma treatment?

I have studied the stability of nano-assembly and its pretty stable. In terms of future research, I would love to conduct in-vivo applications experiments to check the effectiveness of nano-assembly.